Fans were outraged – the singer’s content was removed from local streaming service Anghami, where she had racked up almost half a billion plays.

Few millions for the half billion plays on Anghami ❤️❤️ Cheers to the number 1 artist in the middle east and the records breaker @elissakh 500,000,000 isn't an easy number to achieve but nothing is hard for you 😍😍 music you make deserve more than this🥂❤️ #500MElissaxAnghamipic.twitter.com/s6oAxElN5t

Rumours quickly spread that the removal was an internet-wide campaign, including the closure of her YouTube channel. Tweeter @Lobnene_blog was among those who claimed her work was being removed from YouTube.

In fact, the reality was somewhat less dramatic. Elissa’s music had indeed been removed from Anghami, but it had simply been relocated to Deezer’s own streaming site, as is normal when a record label signs an exclusive new deal with a streaming service.

As for the YouTube rumours, a quick search reveals that Elissa’s channel is very much alive and well, and Deezer took to Twitter in the early hours of this morning to assure fans that was not going to change: “We wanted to reassure music fans all over the Middle East and North Africa that we have not, and have no plans to remove any of Elissa’s or other Rotana Artists content from YouTube”, they Tweeted.

Hi! We wanted to reassure music fans all over the Middle East and North Africa that we have not, and have no plans to remove any of Elissa’s or other Rotana Artists content from YouTube.

All-in-all then, it seems the whole affair was a case of much ado about nothing. In fact, Deezer seemed to be quite pleased with all the unexpected attention the whole affair had generated. They ended their Tweet: “Glad to have y’all in the office.”